RSS sources suggest the BJP leader may embark on a Somnath to Ayodhya yatra to revive party's fortunes
RSS sources suggest the BJP leader may embark on a Somnath to Ayodhya yatra to revive party's fortunes
The Congress has already done it. Now, it's the turn of archrival BJP.
A generation is ready to walk into the sunset in the saffron party with both LK Advani and Rajnath Singh making way for the younger turks of the party.
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Making way: LK Advani and Rajnath Singh will pave the way for a generational change in the BJP Pics/MiD DAY |
He may have failed to lead the party and NDA to corridors of power, but Advani's influence in the party goes beyond any position. Therefore, the party may float a new position for him after his resignation as Leader of Opposition.
Sources in the BJP said he might be offered to become the chairman of the parliamentary party or step in for ailing Atal Bihari Vajpayee to lead the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). The party will have to amend the parliamentary party constitution for creating the new post for which a two-thirds majority is a must.
Party sources told MiD DAY that Advani had called a meeting of senior party leaders at his residence on Wednesday where he expressed his desire to quit as leader of the Opposition before the current session of Parliament gets over. Sushma Swaraj, who is all set to replace Advani as leader of the Opposition, Arun Jaitley, party's leader in the upper house, Ananth Kumar and Venkaiah Naidu were among those who attended the meeting. Interestingly, party president Rajnath Singh was not invited for the meeting.
Singh is also slated to resign on Friday. If speculation is to be believed Maharashtra BJP chief Nitin Gadkari is almost set to become the next party chief, however, party leaders refused to say anything conclusive on the subject.
"The party will meet and only then a decision will be taken in this regard. Certain names are doing the rounds but nothing should be considered certain right now," a party leader said, requesting anonymity.
Gadkari, 52, had earned the reputation of a good administrator as a PWD Minister in Maharashtra in the Sena-BJP government. He has been called to Delhi for the meeting. His election will be ratified by the BJP National Council.
RSS' role
Speculation was rife over Advani quitting as leader of Opposition ever since RSS Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat suggested that the party better look at having a younger leadership between 55 and 65 years of age following the debacle in the last general elections.
However, highly-placed sources in the Sangh told MiD DAY that Advani's resignation will pave the way for him to don the shoes of a 'Yatri' once again.
"Advani's role had come under severe criticism ever since party's debacle in general elections. The Sangh had called for him to lead another yatra to revive party's votebank and party cadre," a senior prant pracharak (state chief) told MiD DAY.
He said even Advani himself wanted to take up a yatra from Somnath to Ayodhya for which the RSS and Vishwa Hindu Parishad had extended their full support to him.
Another prant pracharak said Advani would never walk away before proving his detractors wrong. He said the yatra would help him establish what the party has lost over these years after his first yatra to Ayodhya catapulted the party's fortunes.
| Second in command |
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In the wake of these developments, some posts, including the Deputy Leader of BJP in Lok Sabha, would be up for grabs in the party. The race for the post of Deputy Leader of BJP in the Lower House is now between Ananth Kumar, Gopinath Munde and Shahnawaz Hussain. Munde and Yashwant Sinha are also eyeing the post of Public Accounts Committee Chairman, which has fallen vacant after Jaswant Singh's resignation. |
| Dumb charades |
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Another important decision that the party will have to make is whether it will make Advani sit in Parliament. Till now as the Leader of the Opposition, he used to sit on the seat opposite reserved for the Prime Minister. With new incumbents for both the Leader of Opposition and the Deputy Leader of the House, Advani may have to be accommodated at an alternative yet equally important seat. |
